A great number and variety of devices having telescoping handles have been proposed and are commercially available for performing a variety of operations such as tree pruning. Specifically, pole-mounted pruning tools are widely used by arborists and others to control foliage growth at substantial heights. Conventional tree pruners usually comprise an elongated shaft or tube on the upper end of which a lopping mechanism is mounted. The lopping mechanism includes a hook-shaped jaw and a pivotal blade. The blade is typically biased in an open position by a spring, and includes a lever arm extension attached to a cord or rope. To sever a tree branch or other object, a user places the jaw about the object and pulls the actuating cord to pivot the blade toward the jaw. A lopper generally of this type is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,241,752, issued on Sep. 7, 1993 to Lutzke et al.
Because tree pruners of the type described above cannot always permit the remote trimming of branches and the like, a ladder or stool is typically needed to allow the user to reach an otherwise inaccessible branch. This shortcoming has already been recognized by those skilled in the art, as explained in U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,975, issued on Feb. 4, 1992 to Melter which covers an extendable tree pruner. Specifically, Melter discloses a tree pruner having a pair of telescoping tubes in which cables coupling an actuator and a shears are received. A compensating pulley permits extension of the telescoping tubes, while ensuring sufficient tension on the cord when a user desires to make a cut. As is readily apparent, the Melter device requires a number of compensating pulleys thereby adding to the complexity and cost of that item.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a tree pruning tool which can alleviate the problems associated with prior art devices to effectuate certain operations more efficiently and with less effort, without undesirably affecting the performance of the tool or unduly increasing its cost.